A Secretive Companion
by joshua.burniece
Summary: After living for two years in the safety of Tommy's dam, Joel and Ellie find themselves in another survival situation when their home is destroyed by a group of elite hunters. After the explosion, they come across a 16-year old survivor named Adam. Through lots of harsh arguments, they learn to trust one another. However, Ellie discovers there's more to Adam than they anticipated.
1. Crisis

**Hey guys! **

**Thanks for checking out my story. Here's the first chapter of "A Secretive Companion." I'll try to stay on a steady pace of at least one chapter per week. **

**If you like my story, please leave a comment and/or give me suggestions on how to make it better. **

**Thanks!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

_I woke up and all I could breathe in was smoke. Next to me lied a monster. I thought I'd killed it, but that's when i saw it move. I knew this had to end now or it'll all be over for me. I rolled over and I noticed a shiny blade under the table booth not too far away from me. I began crawling towards it. I felt soar everywhere in my body. I could barely move. So close. It was right there. Just a little bit further. _

_I was stopped when I felt a boot drive into to my stomach. I felt nothing but fear and pain. I lied there like a hopeless mouse standing before a hungry cat._

_"I knew you had heart. Y'know it's okay to give up. Ain't no shame in it," the monster said. _

_I have to keep going. C'mon Ellie, you can do this. _

_I crawled inch by inch desperately towards the machete. Just a tiny bit further._

_"I guess not. Just not your style is it?"_

_I felt another boot drive into my stomach. So much pain. _

_Suddenly i felt the monster on top of me, pinning me to the ground with its claws. _

_"You can try beggin'."_

_I managed to squeeze out a couple words under its weight. "Fuck you."_

_The monster turned me onto my back a grabbed my throat._

_It craved having power over me. _

_"You think you know me? Huh? Well, let me tell you somethin'. You have no idea what I'm capable of."_

_I reached for the machete just like I did the first time this happened. It wasn't there. Shit. Shit! SHIT! Where's the fucking machete?!_

_And that's when I saw the monster draw the blade and raise it above its head. _

_I screamed, "No! No! Please don't!"_

_I saw the blade coming at my head, and then it all went black._

* * *

"Get away! Get away from me! No! Help me!"

I heard the door from my room break open and I felt someone shake me.

"Ellie? Ellie wake up! C'mon wake up!"

I woke up wildly, searching for an escape from the nightmare.

I felt someone grab my shoulders. I couldn't break free.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

"Sshh. Sshh."

"No-"

"It's okay. It's me. It's me. It's me. Look. Look. It's me."

I cried, "he tried to-"

"Oh, baby girl..." He held me close. "It's okay. It's okay."

I sobbed uncontrollably. "Joel..."

"It's okay now. You're safe."

I tried to settle down. "I'm sorry. I keep having nightmares because of that day."

"It's alright. I'm never going to let anything happen to you, Ellie. I promise."

I smiled at his words. Joel had always been there for me, no matter what.

His calm voice had always made me feel better. He hugged me once more. "Get dressed. Let's get going."

I nodded. When he left the room I got up slowly, still a little shaken from the nightmare. I went over to my dresser and pulled out my only pair of jeans. For my top, I decided to wear my warmest hoodie over my usual red shirt. Today was me and Joel's day to go hunting for the dam's food supply, and it was a fairly breezy day.

When I had had finished putting my outfit on, I slipped on my old shoes and looked in the mirror.

"Y'know, for a 16-year old girl living in this shitty world, I don't look too bad."

Satisfied with myself, I headed towards me and Joel's usual rendezvous, just outside the dam's perimeters. When I got there, Joel welcomed me with a subtle smile. "You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright c'mon kiddo." We began hiking along the river. I loved the sound of the water. It always made me feel really calm. And living in times like this, it's feelings like that that you treasure the most.

When we got to the woods, I stopped to admire it. The smell of pine and birch trees filled the air. The birds sang happy songs and the squirrels continued with their daily nut collecting. It's as if they didn't notice that the world had changed at all. To them, life has always been simple. If everyone does their part, then we all get along just fine. To us, life is always jeopardized. One minute, you could be walking along the road doing nothing wrong. The next minute, you could be running for your life from a pack of clickers. Those who can't accept this life are the ones who either die or turn. Only the people who understand how the world works will survive.

Joel once said to me, "No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for." I didn't understand it at first, but now I realize that was the best advice he's ever given to me. If you can't motivate yourself to do something, what's the point of living?

After hiking for an hour we finally spotted a buck. Joel pulled out his bow, but I stopped him and whispered, "Wait, Joel. Let me get this one."

He debated it. "It's a pretty far shot. You sure you got it?"

I nodded slightly. He moved aside and I readied my bow. I took one deep breathe. Slowly and steadily, I pulled back the string and aimed at the buck's heart. I took one more breathe and then...

The buck fell with an arrow pierced through its heart. A perfect shot thank you very much. I smiled to myself, proud of my silent kill.

Joel stared in disbelief. "Wow, you're a better shot with that thing than I'll ever be." I smiled. "Y'know, Ellie, you never cease to amaze me."

"Well I learned from the best," I teased. Joel chuckled.

I headed over to the buck to retrieve my arrow. Joel followed closely behind. Lucky for me, the arrow hadn't broken. So I carefully removed it from the kill and put it back in my bag. I stared down at my prize, still very satisfied with it. Then a thought crossed my mind.

"Uhh, Joel?"

"Yeah?"

"How are we supposed to carry all of our kills today?"

He looked confused at first. Then it hit him. "Ah shit, we forgot to grab a horse."

"What should we do?"

He thought about it for moment. "Well, I could carry the buck on my shoulders. We'll head back to the dam and grab a horse. Then we'll come back out here and load our kills on it. Sound good?"

"Well, how much time do we have before the sun sets?"

"I'd say about five or six hours."

"Is that enough time?"

"Should be."

"Alright lets go." We started to head back. Joel carrying the buck on his shoulders, and me carrying both of our backpacks.

We walked for awhile without any issues. Both of us were silent, just enjoying the peace that surrounded us. It was kind of nice out here. It definitely beats living in a quarantine zone.

Looking around for a bit, I started to think about life before the infection. I loved the stories that Joel told me about that time. My favorite story that he's ever told me is the celebration of this thing called Christmas. According to Joel, it was based around spending time with loved ones and exchanging gifts. He also told me there was this guy named Santa Claus who would ride in a magical sleigh, pulled by flying reindeer, and deliver presents to every house in the whole world. When I first heard it, I thought is was complete bullshit. And boy was I relieved when I found out that it was. I mean, think about it. A big fat guy coming into your house in the middle of the night without you knowing? It seemed kind of creepy to me. Joel said the kids especially loved the idea of Santa Claus. I guess I wasn't one of those kids.

"Joel, can you tell me another story? Y'know, about times before the infection?"

He chuckled. "I've told you almost all of them though. I don't know if I have anymore."

"Aw come on. There's gotta be one more. Please, Joel? Tell me a funny one."

He was silent for a moment, trying to think of one he hadn't told. "Did I tell you the one about how I got Tommy's arm broken?"

"What?! No way! Tell me!"

"Well, when we were kids, we used to go out in the woods and climb trees. It was kind of our escape from the world. It was the one thing we would look forward to during the week." He laughed softly. "We could hardly pay attention in school because its all we could think about."

"You got that excited to climb trees?" I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Yeah." Joel seemed embarrassed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." A few seconds passed. "So what happened? How'd his arm get broken?"

"Well, one day when we went out to the woods, we went a little farther than usual. We found this really old tree that I knew wasn't safe to climb. But Tommy was a pretty reckless kid. So, I thought it'd be funny to tell him to see how high he could get."

A smile crossed my face. "Oh man I totally know where this is going."

He grinned a little. "When I told him to do it, he didn't think twice about it. He started climbing and I was surprised to see that he'd gotten up about three or four branches. But, a little farther up I heard a snap and there went Tommy. He looked like a rag doll, hitting every branch he'd climbed up before he fell."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my gosh that was the best story I've ever heard! How badly did he get hurt?"

Joel started laughing too. "Well I got him back to the house and we immediately rushed him to the hospital. They said he'd broken his arm and gotten a minor concussion. He was out of school for a week."

"You were such a mean brother!"

"Well you gotta mess with the little brother once in awhile right?"

"Did you guys argue a lot?"

"Once in awhile there would be some tension. But I mean, we got along just fine most of the time. There was really only one time we got into a big fight when we were young."

"What about?"

"It was just a stupid fight. It was about-" He stopped, as if told to.

"What? What is it?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know. It was stupid."

"What was it? I won't laugh I promise!"

He sighed. "Well, we both liked the same girl in school. We actually got into a fist fight about it."

I tried so hard not to laugh, but I couldn't do it. I started laughing uncontrollably. "Are you serious?! Oh my gosh! That's hilarious! You actually got into a fist fight about it?!"

Now Joel was extremely embarrassed. He chuckled a little. "I thought you said you wouldn't laugh?"

I pulled myself together. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"Y'know one day you might feel that way about someone, just like I did."

"Oh yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it."

"Whatever you say kiddo." We walked on a little more. We both had smiles on our faces from the stories that had just been told.

After walking for about an hour, we reached the dam that we called home.

Joel banged on the door and a soldier appeared on the wall with a rifle in his hand. The soldier immediately recognized us. He welcomed us with a slight smile on his face.

"Hey guys. Back so soon?"

Joel responded to the soldier. "Hey Tommy, do you mind if we take a horse out with us? We need something to carry our kills on."

"Yeah sure thing. Here I'll let you guys in real quick."

"Thanks Tommy." The door opened with a screech. We waited for Tommy to come down from the wall to get us a horse. Tommy had always been really nice to me, and I respected him because of that. One time he gave me this thing that could extract water from trees, and it worked like a charm. I keep it in my bag all the time because I know it'll come in handy someday.

When Tommy got down from the wall, we followed him to the horses. Joel set the buck down on a nearby table, and Tommy came over to examine it.

"I see you guys got a good sized buck." He looked over it very carefully and when he came across the fatal wound, he stared at it in amazement. "Geez Joel, that's a clean shot you made, straight through the heart."

Joel nudged me a little. "Ellie actually shot this one. It was from a pretty good distance too."

Tommy looked over at me, "You shot this buck Ellie?"

I was embarrassed at suddenly being put on the spot. "Yeah, I did."

"You're a pretty skilled archer considering you made this shot."

I blushed a little. "I think I just got lucky."

He chuckled a little. "Well however you did it, thanks for getting this buck. It's gonna help out our food supply quite a bit."

"Yeah sure thing."

While we were talking, one of the workers had brought out a horse for me and Joel. The horse was beautiful and I couldn't wait to ride it.

"How's this one," the worker said.

Joel replied with a slight smile, "That'll do just fine. Thanks a lot."

"Yeah sure thing." As the worker walked off, Tommy walked up to us.

"You guys all set?"

"I think so." Thank goodness Joel replied, I was too busy admiring the horse. I'd only ridden a horse a couple times, so it was pretty special when I got the chance to.

"Alright. I'll see you guys later. Take care Joel. Bye Ellie."

"Thanks Tommy."

I mounted first, very eager to get back out there. Joel climbed on after me. We took one last look at the dam as we went out the doors, and then we were off.

* * *

The rabbit lied there with an arrow through its body.

Joel gave me nudge on the shoulder. "Nice shot."

I smiled in return. "Thanks Joel. So should we head back? Its gonna get dark soon."

"How many animals do we have?"

I went over to the horse where all of our trophies were mounted on. "Well, we have three bucks and five rabbits total."

"That should last awhile. Grab that rabbit you just killed and lets head back."

"Okay." I quickly ran over to my kill with the horse and I carefully removed the arrow from its limp body. Joel came over as I tied the rabbit to the saddle. "Today has been a really good day."

"Yeah it has." He didn't sound as proud as I was, but I knew inside he was satisfied with our work. After spending the past three years with Joel I could read him easier than I could read a book.

We headed back to the dam knowing Tommy would be relieved to see the amount of food we acquired. I enjoyed hunting with Joel in the woods, but I also looked forward to sleeping in the next day. Our life was relatively easy. On a normal day we would both sleep in, grab some breakfast, do some work around the dam, and then we'd go to bed. Once in a while we'd have to take out a group of bandits attacking the dam, but it has never been anything we couldn't handle.

The infected have been pretty scarce too. The only time we would ever really see them is when we were out hunting. Other than that, they'd never come within ten miles of the dam. It's almost as if they knew it was too dangerous to attack. There's only been one incident involving a runner that got into the dam. One of Tommy's good friends, Earl, had gone out for his hunting shift. Apparently he got chased down by a few runners. He was able to take them out and return back home. But sadly, he took a bite on his arm with him. Two days after he returned, he went on a rampage through the dam. It was pure chaos. Tommy almost got bit too. Being the man he is, he tried to talk some sense into Earl. But that man...that thing...wasn't Earl anymore. Tommy, nearly bitten himself, took Earl out with his revolver he kept in his pocket. It was a sad day for everyone. But, as Joel once said, "Things happen, and we move one." Y'know, Joel is a really tough guy, but he really does give a lot of good advice.

We were two minutes from reaching the door to the dam. I could see the gate's outline in the distance. Then I noticed a huge cloud of smoke rising above the perimeter walls.

"Hey Joel, is that a bonfire?"

He gave me a bewildered look. Joel clearly had no idea what I was talking about.

I pointed to the dam only a short distance ahead of us. "Look."

Joel glanced over to where I was pointing. A look of horror crossed his face.

He put his arm in front of me, stopping me and the horse. "That's not a bonfire."

"What is it?"

"Oh shit! Ellie get down!" He barely had time to pull me to the ground, shielding me with his body until...

BOOM!

My ears rang from the explosion. "Fuck!" I looked up and saw enormous flames consuming the dam.

Joel immediately sprang up from the ground. "Oh shit! Ellie move your ass we gotta help Tommy and the others!"

"Right behind you!" And with that, we sprinted as fast as we could towards the inferno.


	2. Nails

**Hey guys!**

**I'm so so so sorry for such a long delay. I was extremely busy the last month but now I'm gonna get back on track!**

**Thank you so much for all the support you guys have given me! It means a lot that all this hard work is paying off!**

**Let me know in the comments after this chapter if you like what I'm writing and/or how I can improve it!**

**Thanks guys!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

We reached the doors of the dam in a matter of seconds after the explosion. The only thing I could hear was screaming. The sounds of men, women, and children burning alive filled the air.

"Joel, the doors are locked! How do we get inside?!"

He began slamming into the doors with all his strength. "Ellie, come on and help me!"

I rammed into the doors with my shoulder as hard as I could, matching Joel's rhythm.

We both stopped after a couple tries, realizing it was useless to try and go in through the main entrance. Joel was enraged. "Dammit! How the hell are we supposed to get inside!?"

If there weren't flames surrounding the hole in the wall where the explosion was we could've just gone in that way. I paced frantically for a few seconds, then I remembered I had a couple nail bombs in my bag from awhile ago.

"Hey Joel, you got any nail bombs in your bag?"

"I got two. Why?"

I set my bag down and pulled out the two nail bombs I was carrying. "Put all the bombs in front of the door and we'll blow them up all at the same time. That should burst a hole through the door so we can get in."

"Ellie, I'm not sure thats such a good idea. It's too dangerous, one of us could get shredded."

"What other choice do we have?"

He gave in. We went over set all the bombs in front of the door, being careful not to blow them up in the process. The flames were getting bigger. We were running out of time.

I readied the last bomb as I set it down. I only had a few seconds before it would explode. Joel quickly motioned for me to come to take cover with him behind a tree. I ran as fast as I could to where Joel was hiding. I was barely twenty feet from the tree. A few more strides and I was about to jump to safety behind the tree...

BOOM!

I wasn't fast enough. As I heard the bombs go off I suddenly felt extreme pain in my right calf. I slammed into the ground, unable to catch myself.

"FUCK!" Joel sprinted to me as fast as he could. He dropped to his knees and rolled me over. Instantly he started to examine the wound.

"Shit! Ellie your legs bleedin' like crazy!"

I sat up to try and look at my leg. It was a hell of a struggle. Every movement I made shot a bolt of pain through my whole body. I caught a small glimpse of my leg. I saw five three-inch nails stuck in my right calf and blood was pouring out of the deep holes.

"Fuck! It hurts! Joel make it stop! Please!" Tears streamed down my face. It finally hit me how much pain I was in.

Joel didn't know what to do. He had his home burning in front of him, and now this happens.

"I've got an idea." Joel began to put his arm under my neck and his other arm under my legs. "You ready, Ellie?"

"Just fucking do it!"

I screamed in agony as he picked me up. As Joel sprinted to get me somewhere safe, I observed with lamentable eyes at my home...our home...burning in the flames. Joel carefully set me down a safe distance from the dam near a tree.

"Alright listen Ellie, I need you to stay here for a minute. I'm go run in the dam and see if I can grab any of our remaining supplies and help anyone that's still breathing."

"Please be careful, Joel."

He nodded and ran off towards the disaster. I heard him shout one last thing at me, "Ellie, don't mess with that wound. I'll take a closer look at it later alright?!"

I could barely look at my leg. Thick, red blood had stained my jeans and the tragic ground around me. I attempted to remove one of the nails pierced through my leg...bad idea. One million volts of unbearable pain shot up through my body and I saw stars.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCKING FUCK!" The tears streamed down my face and I was shaking like crazy. "JOEL! I NEED YOU!" No response...figures. "JOEL!" I started to get dizzy, and my eyes felt like they were being pulled down by one ton weights. "Joel...please..."

Just before I passed out, I saw someone running at me with a gun. I was too weak to react.

The stranger took aim...*shot*...and then it all went black.

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**Hey guys! I know this chapter was extremely short, but I wanted to upload just a little something just to tell you guys I'm still here and I'm am NOT dropping this book!**

**I'm back on track now and summer is in a week for me so I'll have 100x more free time to finish this book! I LOVE writing this book for you guys and for myself!**

**Thank you for all the support!**

**I feel terrible for such a long wait! I'll try to think of a way to make it up to you guys!**


	3. Memories of the Disaster

**Hey guys! **

**Here's chapter three! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!**

**Thanks for everything!**

* * *

**Ellie's POV**

I woke up, completely unaware of where I was. It wasn't long before I realized Joel was in the room with me staring out the window.

"How you feelin' Ellie?"

"I'm fine." Truthfully, I wasn't. My head hurt like hell from passing out, and my leg still killed from those damn nails. I sat up slowly in the unknown bed, making sure not to hurt myself anymore than I already was. I started to lift up the bed covers to observe my injury, but Joel came over and stopped me.

"I wouldn't look if I were you."

"Why not?"

"It ain't exactly a pretty sight."

I pondered it for a moment. But, me being my curious self, I had to see. I lifted up the bed covers and saw a shirt wrapped around my leg. I carefully bent my leg so I could examine the damage. With extremely slow movements, I unwrapped the shirt to reveal my wound.

"Oh shit." The gaping holes in my leg looked like it'd been shot point blank with a shotgun. The holes were filled with fresh blood, and the skin around each of the holes was swollen. I gently ran my curious fingers around the holes.

"How could this much damage have been done from just a few fucking nails?"

Joel sat next to me on the bed, gazing down at my leg. "Only a guy like Bill could invent something like that. The man's a genius."

"And an absolute asshole."

Joel chuckled a little at my comment, but quickly brushed it off. Some silence overcame us, but then a look crossed his face, as if remembering something important. "Ellie?"

"What?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?" I looked at him with a bewildered look. He just stared back at me. "Joel...what happened yesterday?"

I didn't answer for a moment, appearing as though he was trying to phrase it in just the right way. "What happened last night seemed almost impossible to accomplish...but somehow, somebody figured out a way to burn Tommy's dam to the ground."

"What about the people? Our friends?" No answer. "What about Tommy?"

He stared down at the ground and his eyes started to glisten with silent tears.

"Joel...what happened?"

Finally he managed to choke something out. He looked me straight in the eyes, and said only one word.

"Slaughtered."

"Everyone?"

He nodded slightly and lost eye contact with me. My heart stopped beating. Everything I thought I knew about breathing was instantly burned from my mind.

"No...no no NO! Fuck!" I burst into tears. Joel came over and held me. I had lost everything. The closest thing I'd ever have to living a normal life was gone. Along with it, all of my friends.

I cried for a long time. Eventually I was able to calm myself down enough to get more information. "Who did this?"

"I don't know exactly."

"What do you mean by that? Were they hunters?"

"Kinda."

"Kinda?"

"They were more intelligent than hunters. Normally hunters are just regular assholes, but these guys were different. Its almost as if they were trained killers."

Great. Just what we needed. Its not like we didn't have enough problems fighting off regular assholes. Now we have professional assholes to deal with. Just when I thought life couldn't get any better.

"Were you able to get any of our stuff while you were in there?"

Joel shook his head, "No. I tried to sneak past the raiders but there were too many of them. Everything was up in flames too, so that didn't help either."

"Man, who the fuck were these guys?"

"I found something that could be your answer." Joel reached into his pocket and handed me the item.

It was pendant with an unfamiliar symbol on it. It was hard to make out what it was, but it looked like it was a picture of some cross-hairs aiming at the head of a wolf. I handed it back to Joel and he stood up from the bed to return to the window. Joel seemed to be done talking. However, there was still one thing that didn't make sense to me.

"Joel?"

"Hm?"

"What did you mean when you said "how did you do it?""

Joel once again sat down on the bed with me. "When I came back for you...you weren't alone."

"What do you mean?"

"A few feet in front of you there was man with a bullet in his head."

"Wait...really? I thought I imagined that?"

"Imagined what?"

"Just before I passed out, I saw a guy with a gun approach me. He aimed straight for me, then I heard a gunshot and everything went black. I thought for sure he'd shot me."

"So you weren't the one that shot him?"

"No, I didn't have a gun on me."

Joel stood up and began to pace a little. "Well if you didn't shoot him, who did?"

"You didn't see anyone when you came back for me?"

"No, it was just you and him."

This made no sense. I can almost guarantee that there was no one around me when that guy came for me. "What the hell? This makes no sense."

"There's only one thing that makes a little sense, but its pretty unlikely." I stared at him attentively. "Somebody saved your life."

"You think so?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. And whoever this stranger was...he was a hell of a good shot."

All of this seemed so unbelievable to me. How was it possible that some stranger showed up at the last possible second to save my life? Maybe it was pure luck? Or maybe there was a deeper clue that Joel and I were both missing? At this point, I had absolutely no idea what to think of the situation. I guess I'm grateful that my brains aren't splattered on the grass. Still, it pisses me off to think that I don't know how I'm ever gonna find this stranger who saved me. For now, I'll just have to let it be.

"Joel, should we get moving?"

He shook his head, "No, I want you to stay here for a couple days to let your leg heal up as best it can. I'll go out everyday and try to get some food for us. I know its not comfortable here. But for now, it'll have to do. Sound good?"

No. It sounded pretty boring to me. But, I've learned to obey Joel's authority over these past years. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Alright. Get some more sleep. We should be pretty safe here for now."

I nodded my head slightly and settled back into the unknown bed. Truthfully, I'm a pretty adventurous girl. But I gotta admit, resting in that bed felt really damn nice after what I'd been through the last few days.

Just before I fell asleep, I whispered one thing to myself.

"Whoever you are, Stranger, I'm going to find you."

And with that, I drifted off into the comforting peacefulness of my dreams.

* * *

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading my story! **

**I know it sounds super mainstream to say this, but I'm so grateful you guys like this! Every time I get a notification on my phone saying I got a new follower or a new comment, I get SO excited!**

**I know this chapter was very dialogue heavy, but I thought it was the best way to explain what happened at Tommy's dam.**

**As for the next chapter, I've got almost all of it laid out in my head so it won't take long at all for it to arrive! **

**And also, I know the chapters are shorter than the first one I wrote, but its because I have so many ideas in my head at one time that if I wrote them all down at once, it'd just be a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I think by making shorter chapters it makes the story a little bit easier to follow. I believe the next chapter will be longer, however, if you are looking for longer chapters from me.**

**Again, thanks for all the support! It seriously means more than you guys probably know! **

**NEXT CHAPTER WON'T TAKE LONG TO WRITE :) **


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